Recently in South Korea Category

"Two of the men had their throats slit. Attackers beheaded the other doctor."

"When you meet the unbelievers, smite their necks..." -- Qur'an 47:4

"Attackers Kill 3 South Korean Doctors in Nigeria," from the Associated Press, February 10 (thanks to Lookmann):

POTISKUM, Nigeria (AP) — Assailants in northeastern Nigeria killed three South Korean doctors, beheading one of the physicians, in the latest attack on health workers in a nation under assault by a radical Islamic sect, officials said Sunday.

The deaths Saturday night of the doctors in Potiskum, a town in Yobe state long under attack by the sect known as Boko Haram, comes after gunmen killed at least nine women administering polio vaccines in Kano, the major city of Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north.

The two attacks raise new questions over whether the extremist sect, targeted by Nigeria's police and military, has picked a new soft target in its guerrilla campaign of shootings and bombings across the nation.

The attackers apparently struck at the South Korean doctors inside their home, an official at General Hospital in Potiskum, a government-run health facility, told The Associated Press. The South Korean doctors had no security guards at their residence and typically traveled around the city via three-wheel taxis without a police escort, said the official who insisted upon anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to journalists.

By the time soldiers arrived at the house, they found the doctors' wives cowering in a flower bed outside their home, the official said. At the property, they found the corpses of the men, all bearing what appeared to be machete wounds.

An AP journalist later saw the South Korean doctors' corpses before they were moved to nearby Bauchi state for safe keeping. Two of the men had their throats slit. Attackers beheaded the other doctor....

No one claimed responsibility for the attack, though suspicion fell on the Boko Haram sect....

In a statement Friday, President Goodluck Jonathan condemned the killings of the polio workers and promised that efforts to cut child mortality wouldn't be stopped by "mindless acts of terrorism."

"While the government will continue to do everything possible to track down and apprehend agents of terrorism in the country, the president has directed that enhanced security measures be put in place immediately for health workers in high-risk areas," the statement read.

Despite that promise, however, attackers apparently were able to kill the South Korean doctors and slip away. Reuben Abati, a presidential spokesman, did not respond to a request for comment Sunday.

Maybe the jihadis have friends in high places, who share their beliefs and ideology.

Africans for Israel

Mangosuthu Buthelezi is right. It is tragic that he is one of the few political leaders anywhere in the world willing to enunciate this truth. "SA's very own 'Made in Israel' war of words," by Osiame Molefe for Eyewitness News, June 29 (thanks to A):

The exact wording proposed is unclear, but a notice issued by the trade and industry department that goods imported from Israel and manufactured in the Israeli-occupied territories ought to be labelled as such has been met by protest.

The Inkatha Freedom Party, the African Christian Democratic Party, the South African Zionist Federation and the Shembe Church – dubbing themselves “Africans for Israel” – on Thursday marched to the trade and industry department's head office in Pretoria to demand that minister Rob Davies withdraw the notice.

According to ACDP leader Kenneth Meshoe – whose human rights record includes opposition to gay rights and condom distribution and who supports the death penalty – the notice “is discriminatory, indefensible and part of the international boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign to isolate and delegitimise Israel.”

Davies' action is yet another indication that the South African government has taken Palestine's side in the conflict, IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi added. He also claimed that the notice had no basis in law.

“Our government has maintained an unstated position with regards to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and has made no effort to conceal the fact that it supports the Palestinian cause. One seldom hears an unbiased statement in Parliament. Our government has taken sides,” he said.

Buthelezi also likened the consumer boycotts against the re-labelling to those preceding the persecution of Jews and the Holocaust in Germany....

Of course. The National Socialists of Germany initiated the first BDS movement, calling on Germans to boycott Jewish-owned businesses:

If the Norks don't get them, this will. "South Korea to Learn From Malaysia on Islamic Finance," by Manirajan Ramasamy and Frances Yoon for Bloomberg, December 10:

Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) -- South Korea wants to learn about Islamic finance from Malaysia, President Lee Myung Bak said today following a local newspaper report that parliament had rejected a bill that would pave the way for a sale of sukuk....

The bill, which was first proposed to parliament by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance in September 2009 to help diversify funding sources, was scuttled earlier this year amid opposition from church leaders. A sale of sukuk would be South Korea's first.

Lee Man Sub, head pastor at the Korean Association of Church Communication, was among leaders seeking to stop the plan on concern Islamic charities would funnel contributions to terrorist activities from zakat, a tax paid by Muslims with wealth to be distributed to the poor and needy.

Shariah-compliant bond sales in South Korea could potentially reach $1 billion a year, Lee Yul Hee, head of the Islamic finance team at the Seoul-based Korea Investment & Securities Co., said in August. Malaysia is the world's biggest market for sukuk and a global hub for financing that complies with religious tenets.

This "Arab Culture Night" -- "jointly organized by embassies of 10 Arab countries in Seoul -- Algeria, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Tunisia" -- seems to have been exclusively an Islamic culture night. While noting that Islam "spread" for a thousand years, it doesn't say how. And before the emails from jihadist apologists and pseudo-intellectual Westerners start rolling in, let me clarify: I know how Muslims hate it when Westerners say that Islam "spread by the sword." And I am well aware that Islamic law forbids forced conversions, in line with Qur'an 2:256, "There is no compulsion in religion." (Although I also know that historically that restriction was often ignored.) But dhimmi status was so onerous for non-Muslims in the lands that Muslims had conquered that many saw conversion to Islam as the only path to a better life. Over a thousand years, that was the surest and most sustained way that Islam "spread."

From the Seoul Times, with thanks to Anthony:

In order to promote closeness and understanding between the Arab world and the people of Korea, the wives and Arab envoys in Korea staged an Arab Culture Night at Hotel Lotte in downtown Seoul Nov. 29, 2004 showcasing traditional Arab food, handicrafts and art objects but most importantly performances by troupes arriving from the State of Kuwait and Lebanon.

Arabic folklore dances and music from various regions of the Arab world fascinated more than 300 jam-packed audience....

The event, the first of its kind ever staged in Korea, was jointly organized by embassies of 10 Arab countries in Seoul -- Algeria, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Tunisia.

As an Arab specialist pointed out, the Islamic world is indeed a mosaic, not a monolith. It stretches from Indonesia to Morocco and from central Europe to southern Africa.

It reaches into western Europe, the Americas and Australasia. It comprises men and women often divided by race, culture or language, yet united - by the powerful bond of Islam.

Over a thousand years, Islam spread from the land of the Prophet Muhammad into large parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia. Islamic scholars produced a dazzling array of achievements -- in theology, philosophy, history, literature, architecture, art, astronomy, mathematics, medicine and other sciences.

I survey those achievements in Islam Unveiled. They came at a time when the Islamic world was open to other cultures -- for most of what they accomplished in the fields listed above built on the discoveries and findings of non-Muslims. When Qur'anic literalism prevailed, most intellectual exploration was closed off.

This rich history proves that there is nothing natural or inevitable about the sad state in which so much of the Islamic world finds itself today.

Extremist dogmas are gaining ground, impeding the progress of the entire Umma and threatening the security of people all over the world.

But of course at Arab Culture Night, the problem was not Qur'anic literalism, but the big bad West, and little bad Israel:

These contemporary maladies, along with many other factors -- including the legacy of colonialism and the unfair world trading system -- are holding Islamic societies back. And the Islamic world has been traumatized, particularly in recent years, by the suffering of Muslims in many places.

Nowhere is that suffering more acute than in Palestine, where thousands have been killed.

No one can be surprised at his or her feelings of humiliation, anger and despair -- feelings that are shared by Muslims everywhere.

Indeed they are.

In Islamic law, the penalty for conversion from Islam is death. And dhimmis are strictly forbidden to proselytize. These warnings are in full accord with these provisions, once again illustrating that the "extremist" Muslims are the by-the-book types, and that only when moderate Muslims acknowledge, confront and repudiate what is actually taught in Islamic theology and law will reform even become possible.

From WND, with thanks to Cathy J. Palmer:

Terrorists have threatened retaliation against South Korea if the Asian nation sends missionaries to Iraq.

"We have received information that terrorists will act against South Korea if they find South Koreans have entered Iraq for the purpose of propagating Christianity,'' South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soo Hyuck told reporters.

After the beheading of South Korean interpreter and businessman Kim Sun Il last month, Seoul advised all civilians to leave Iraq.

The group that murdered Kim, Tawhid wa al-Jihad, or Unification and Holy War, posted a message on its website saying the killing was linked to religious activities of the firm that employed Kim, Gana Trading Co.

Tawhid is not "unification," as it is translated here. It is the Islamic concept of the absolute unity of Allah, by which radical Muslims judge nearly every non-Muslim to be a polytheist -- and thus to be warred against, as per Sura 9:5 and many other passages of the Qur'an.

In a statement both in Arabic and English, the group said Kim, with degrees in the Arabic language and theology, wanted to be a Christian missionary in the Arab world.

The terrorist group said, "We killed him because he was a heretic who tried to spread Christianity in Iraq. The president of Gana Trading is also a sincere Christian. He contributes 10 percent of his earnings for missionary work and the company's name also comes from the Bible."

Note that the Korean Muslim leader quoted in this story doesn't, at least as quoted here, actually condemn the religious killing at all. Instead, he simply denies what's in front of his face: that the Muslim terrorists who murdered Kim Sun-il did it for religious reasons. You see, they couldn't have, because Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance. And the Christian, of course, happily plays along.

People often ask me whether or not Muslim groups condemn actions such as the beheadings. I would not offer this as evidence that they do, because the imam Lee Haeng-lae has done absolutely nothing to refute the terrorists' Islamic justifications for their actions, and has tried to make his hearers believe that there are, in fact, no such justifications. Well, I have quoted Sura 8:12 and 47:4 here enough; I think most of you who are reading this will know that the Qur'an directs believers to "strike the necks" of unbelievers. I wonder if Lee Haeng-lae would tell us that we really have to be native Arabic speakers to understand what such verses really mean.

From the Korea Times:

The group, known as Tawhid wa al-Jihad (Unification and Holy War), posted a message on its Web site on Thursday that suggested the killing was linked to Kim's religion.

``We have killed an infidel who tried to propagate Christianity in Iraq,'' the message read. ``This infidel studied theology and was preparing to become a missionary in the Islamic world.''

But Islamic and Christian leaders in Seoul refused to accept that the murder had anything to do with faith.

Lee Haeng-lae, prayer leader at Korea Central Mosque in Itaewon, said true Muslims would never kill a person because he or she was Christian. ``I'm sure that they did not kill Kim Sun-il just because he was Christian,'' he said ``Muslims are understanding of other religions like Christianity and Buddhism.''

Lee, whose mosque received threatening phone calls after Kim was found beheaded on June 22, was also determined that the insurgents' claim would not trigger religious hatred.

Rev. Hong Keun-soo, former pastor at Hyangrim Presbyterian Church, agreed with Lee, saying: ``I don't think this is a conflict between Christianity and Islam.''

Hong said the violence in Iraq is politically motivated and the blame for it lay with political leaders. ``Christianity is a very pacifist religion, like Islam.''

I know that there are some Muslim groups monitoring this site. Some of you are kind enough to email me from time to time. Thus I respectfully request that all Muslim pacifists please write to me today. All I want to know is that you're out there, and how you understand the verses of the Qur'an to which I referred above, and some others. I look forward to hearing from you.

The South Koreans seem unwilling to follow the Spanish into dhimmitude. From Reuters, with thanks to Nicolei:

South Korea will go ahead with its plan to send 3,000 troops to help rebuild Iraq despite a televised threat from Iraqi militants to behead a South Korean hostage, the Foreign Ministry said today.

The government would do its best to seek the release of 33-year-old businessman Kim Sun-il, who has been shown repeatedly on South Korean television pleading for his life, Vice Foreign Minister Choi Young-jin told reporters after a meeting of President Roh Moo-hyun's National Security Council.

Choi said Kim, an Arabic graduate, had been kidnapped in Fallujah on June 17 - the day before South Korea announced where its troops would be deployed after months of agonising because of security concerns and public opposition.

The group holding Kim said South Korea had 24 hours from Sunday night to withdraw its decision or they would behead him, Arabic television station Al Jazeera reported.

Sanctioned by the example of the Prophet Muhammad and the dictates of Islamic law, beheading -- as the rest of the world is learning -- is a perfectly acceptable practice for the Muslim warrior. From AP, with thanks to nevermindlv:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Arab satellite TV network Al-Jazeera aired a videotape Sunday purportedly from al-Qaida linked militants showing a South Korean hostage begging for his life and pleading with his government to withdraw troops from Iraq.

The kidnappers, who identified themselves as belonging to a group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, gave South Korea 24 hours to meet its demand or "we will send you the head of this Korean."

"Please, get out of here," the man screamed in English, flailing his arms. "I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I know that your life is important, but my life is important."

Of course it is. But none of our lives will be important if these thugs start getting their way by means of threats and murder.

A matchbook found in South Korea: all the coolest jihadis have them

Global jihad alert: "Agents from Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror network made repeated visits to South Korea recently scouting for US targets, a lawmaker said, citing a closed-door intelligence briefing to parliament." So says AFP.

"Ham Seung-Hui, a member of the Millennium Democratic Party, said that South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) was now on anti-terrorism alert to respond to reported al-Qaeda activity in South Korea. 'The NIS briefing said suspected al-Qaeda members had checked security of the US troops in South Korea on two or three occasions recently,' Ham told AFP.

"One suspected al-Qaeda member was detained at a South Korean airport for 10 hours last year prior to being expelled, he said, citing the intelligence briefing. Another was expelled earlier this year from South Korea. He was believed to be examining security at South Korean aiports and carrying out the same task in the Philippines. . . .

"'Recently, the al-Qaeda network is increasingly turning its attention to Northeast Asian countries, amplifying chances of terror in the region,' the lawmaker said." I wonder if Al-Qaeda ops made a trip north to see Uncle Kim.